The Number #1 Arts Marketing Blog In The World

Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketing, leadership, diversity and other topics.

The main source of that insight are the blog posts that appear right below this one. Typically you'll get a new one every week.

You want more? I got more.

My e-book Authentic Arts Marketing is available as a free download. All you need to do is join my email list by clicking this link. You'll also get all my blog posts sent directly to your email.

Want to work with me directly? I do arts marketing consulting, presentations and workshops. My client list includes a variety of performing organizations, arts service groups and individual artists. You can see a partial list of them by clicking here

March 24, 2015

The news has been filled with stories about recent marketing campaigns from Starbucks and McDonalds. Starbucks gave us the short lived #RaceForward campaign and McDonalds took some hits from the whole "pay with love" idea.

As a marketer I understand the origin of these ideas. In a world of abundant choices it's logical to assume that the public will choose those companies, services, etc. that have some sort of greater meaning to them.

But what these companies, and many others, are doing is forgetting the difference between a promise and a relationship.

What people want from an organization is a promise. They want to know what they are being offered and feel confident they will receive it.

Relationships are different. Relationships happen between people, not between an organization and a person.

For example, what most people want from McDonalds is food of a certain standard. They want it fast and they want it to be affordable. That's the promise they want fulfilled.

What people ARE NOT looking for is a business to try and impose kindness as a form of currency, or "initiate" a conversation.

That's something that can only happen person to person. McDonalds, for example, could have quietly empowered all their employees to be able to give away food to a favorite customer. Now we are moving toward achieving both an organizational promise (fast food) and building a relationship between the employee and a customer.

The big thing I want you to consider here is that the promise matters more then the relationship. The Ritz Carlton hotel chain promises a certain level of service, cleaning standards, etc. If they don't deliver on the promise then we never get to the relationship.

The theatre, the dance company, the solo artist, are all making a set of promises. We have to define the promise and they devote 100% to delivering it.

The relationship part is the icing on the cake, not the cake. The promise is the core. It's the core of the organization, the core of the artistic vision, the core of the marketing.

March 17, 2015

Consider this an add on to my post last week on bringing in diverse bodies and thoughts in your environment.

Here's some practical advice if you want to move forward on some of these ideas. I have a friend who is an expert on how to turn around "boards" i.e corporate boards, nonprofit boards, volunteer groups, etc.

So imagine a CEO that has a very risk adverse board and she wants to change that. One part of that is finding the right people and I talked about the importance of effective recruitment in my last post.

Another key is how you bring new people into the environment.

So let's imagine the CEO finds a perfect candidate. Her instincts may be to immediately bring that person onto the Board.

There's a lot of social science that suggest that would be a mistake. If you bring this new person on alone then it is going to be very hard for them to resist the negative environment you are trying to change.

An alternative idea is to wait until you find 2-3 more people with a similar mindset and then bring all on together.

The hope is that the new people will not have natural allies and when internal conflicts begin to happen (AND THEY WILL HAPPEN) the new people have a source of support.

It's important that we remember the environment new people are entering. For example, if you are looking for racial diversity in your staff it's vital that you understand that those new people may feel lonely, they may be looking for support and encouragement.

Bringing people in together can help that.

So can effective employee orientation programs, which I will try to get into more in a later post.

My point here is that if you want to bring diversity (in whatever form you choose) to your artistic environment it helps to bring them in as a team.

March 10, 2015

I've been working professionally in the arts for about ten years now. Over those ten years one consistent conversation has centered around how to prepare the arts for a more diverse world. It's a topic that has taken on a sense of increased urgency as society has become more vocal about the importance of having workplaces that reflect a broad cross section of America.

It's a conversation I welcome but I hope that someday we are able to expand the topic to include another form of diversity:

Diversity of Thought.

When I think about "the arts" in all of it's forms (profit, nonprofit, professional, volunteer, etc.) what worries me is that people who see the world a little differently don't feel like they have a place.

One of the lessons I've learned during my time in the field is that the status quo is a very powerful thing. This isn't because of evil intent. There isn't a secret conclave of folks making sure that key functions like artistic planning, marketing and fundraising happen in a very similar way. But I do think the industry feels very comfortable hiring people who approach these tasks in very conventional ways.

For example, I've done a little work in the field of human resources and one of the things I learned is that the standard interview process often has the net impact of bringing in the same sort of people, even if they look different.

That's why you see a lot of progressive companies asking the "how do you move Mt. Everest" sort of questions because it moves the interview process away from give me the answer I want and more toward how do you figure things out.

You also see that strong organizations are always scouting, meaning that are always trying to stay aware of potential new hires in the field. I can fondly remember a friend who worked at a small law firm who kept a constantly updated "just in case" file of people who he would love to hire if the opportunity presented itself.

Every once in a while he would check his list to make sure they weren't all the same in look, approach to the work, etc.

That was his "diversity hiring program". And it worked. Really well.

If we want to create a better, more diverse, more innovative arts world we need to start at the source. The source is how we recruit people and how we hire. All arts organizations, big or small, have some version of this process.

They may not call asking a few of their friends to join their band "recruitment" and "hiring" but that's what it is.

They may not call asking their friends for recommendations for a position "recruitment" but again, that's what it is.

The good news is that their is plenty of good solid research on how to recruit, hire and maintain a diverse workforce. It isn't rocket science or a secret.

It starts with the awareness that an HR process exists, is flawed and needs improving.

March 03, 2015

You've heard me say before that the most challenging aspect of marketing art is the unpredictable element inherent in the business.

It's safe to assume that every theatre company, every writer, every musician is doing the best they can to create the best art that they are capable of creating.

But sometimes it doesn't work out. Failure is part of the process. We know that. More importantly, the public knows that and thus it can be very difficult to convince them to invest the time, money and energy necessary to see our work.

I've always believed in looking at useful analogies to help solve a problem and in this case the world of sports marketing is very interesting.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone in charge of marketing a professional sports team. You've got all of the problems the "traditional" arts have, i.e. high ticket prices, lots of ticket inventory, etc. Plus you've got the additional challenge that comes from having a direct alternative (watching the games on TV) readily available to the public.

Let's stipulate that one of the easiest ways to fill the arena would be to have a winning team. But winning in sports, or the arts, is easier said then done. Even a great team wins about 65% of the time which means that 35% of the time (or more) you are going to send people who paid a lot of money home disappointed.

So what do you do when you can't promise a positive outcome?

Take a look at this ESPN article about how the Chicago White Sox are trying to sell tickets. As you scroll through the article notice how all the marketing options are on the table.

Pricing? Check

Package of ticket options? Check

Giveaways? Check

Use of data to incentive repeat purchase? Check

The start of a loyalty program? Check

The marketing team there is starting to understand what we in the arts need to embrace.

If you can't control the end outcome you need to try to influence everything else.

So as a marketer make sure you are really considering all the tools you have at your disposal. You may not have the time or money to use all of them, but give them some thought. We need all the help we can get.

February 24, 2015

Every once in a while I do a round up of things I'm learning from. Here's the most recent list:

1. The Moment by Brian Koppelman(Podcast Series) - I think you'll find it interesting on multiple levels. The first is the quality and range of his interviews. The second thing is that Brian is also an artist. He's a film director that has done some major work. Thus the podcast has multiple purposes. It keeps Brian's name in the public (marketing) while also adding value for everyone who listens.

2. The entire TedxBroadway speaker series. Here's 2014 and here's 2013 It doesn't really matter if you are into Broadway. The vision these folks give on what live performance could be is useful across the board.

3. Your Turn by Seth Godin - Over 30,000 people have this beautiful book about initiative and opportunity in their hands. You should be next.

4. Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull - I've only had one movie that almost made me cry. Pixar's Up. The track record of the studio is well known but how they try to put creativity into their business process is less well known. A link to the book is here. There is also a nice video discussion from Ed that he did at Stanford available to you via this link.

February 17, 2015

This blog and the freelance career that has come out of it has all been built around a simple idea, helping artists and arts organizations see how effective marketing can be used to generate more.

More money? Certainly. But also more community support, more recognition, etc.

That idea has sent me into a lot of different places. A few months ago it sent me to Iowa to do a series of workshops on arts marketing and then a webinar. It sent me to New York to work with a group of incredible playwrights on personal branding.

Now I hope that the next person I can help is you.

Once or twice a year I offer a limited number of marketing coaching packages. Marketing coaching is where I work directly with you over a 6-8 week period to tackle your deepest marketing challenges.

There are two types. The first is coaching for executives at arts organizations. An example of this is my work I did with the president of the Mercury Theatre. I worked with him to enhance the organization's marketing strategy and find a new marketing director. When it was over he said:

"You have made a tremendous impact on the way I conduct show business and I am grateful."

The second type is for individual artists. An example of this is my work with writer Catherine Castellani. I helped her, and a few others, improve their email marketing. When we were done Catherine said:

"I highly recommend (working with Adam) for anyone who is spinning her wheels and is ready to really get to work."

The coaching package for leaders in organizations is seven sessions that will take place over the phone. Typically we meet once every week or two at a time that works for both of us.

Each coaching sessions last 60-90 minutes and the total cost of the coaching session is $950. To purchase this session CLICK THIS PAYPAL LINK.

For both individuals and organizations I'm willing to break things up into two equal payments if that helps your budget. If that's what you need let me know by emailing me at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com

Please note that I'm only offering six of these packages in total, meaning I can only take six clients. Also note that I'm only available to do coaching between the now and mid May, so if you want in you should do it now.

If you have any questions just send me an email at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com

February 09, 2015

In last week's blog post I talked about the problems that come when you overlook possible marketing assets. When it went out readers followed up asking exactly how I avoid overlooking things. One of the most powerful weapons I have is my pro/con list.

I've blogged about this before, but for newbies, a pro/con list is where you lay out all the positive and negative elements of an artistic project that you can find. Here's an example from my day job's current production of Godot

Pro:

Godot is a well known production to the target audience

The theatre has a reputation for producing classic work

The director and many of the actors have a strong local reputation

Cons:

The piece is long. It can easily run three hours.

The piece is often considered "surreal" and can be challenging for an audience to grasp.

The show is running in Chicago . . . in the winter . . . thus the weather can be an unpredictable challenge.

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My actual list for the show ran a lot longer but you have the idea. When I put together this list I'm basically trying to answer to reverse engineer all the reasons why the art may or may not sell.

If I do the list properly it helps make sure I don't overlook any thing that may help or hinder marketing the art. The key here is HONESTY. You have to be able to look at your play/book/exhibition/whatever clearly. That's the hard part but the more practice you have at it the better you will get.

For me, the pro/con list has done wonders for my ability to market art. Give it a try.

February 03, 2015

I've given tons of speeches on arts marketing and thus it has happened tons of times. Someone raises their hand and starts telling me about what they don't have. Let's fill in the blanks . . .

"Adam you don't understand. I don't have any money for marketing."

"I don't have a staff."

"I don't have the time."

"I don't have the community support"

I listen for a while. Then I typically respond like this:

Tell me what you do have.

Because if the answer is really nothing then you should find a different line of work. If no one really wants to read your books or advance your dance career then you should just make those hobbies and try to make money from something else.

But sometimes the truth is that we have more assets then we think. We have the audience but we don't actively ask them to help us build more audience. We have some financial support but don't make a strong case on why we need more.

We have an interesting artistic story but we are afraid to fully leverage it in our marketing.

We have a few committed volunteers but we don't consider how to efficiently use them or what they are really good at.

I've done all sorts of arts marketing. I've done it for large organizations, small ones and individual artists. I've done theatre, dance, music and art forms I can't even describe. Because I've done it a lot I have made all sorts of mistakes. Most of the mistakes have a common cause:

I overlooked something.

There was an organizational asset I didn't leverage, a story I didn't tell, a person I didn't get the most out of.

I didn't get the most out of what I had.

Arts marketing is about a lot of things. Strategies, tactics, story, etc. but one of the most important parts to good marketing is understanding what you have. A person or organization that fully understands the scope of their resources can make pretty fantastic marketing decisions.

Know thyself. If there is a "secret" to great arts marketing, that's what it is.

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January 28, 2015

A big part of effective marketing is making a stated or implied promise to the public. As an example take a look at this 3 minute web commercial created by a Las Vegas casino called the Stratosphere.

There are a few interesting things about this spot:

1. The venue is taking an aggressive stand against their competitors. Their promise essentially is "we will not be like those other places that screw you over".

2. Taking that stance probably isn't as easy as you think. I'm sure that these folks have many interactions with the casino operators that they are criticizing in this spot. I'm also sure some of those people are not going to be happy with it. But it's important that anything (including art) that wants to thrive in the marketplace stand for something meaningful and distinct. Sometimes you have to use your competitors to create that distinction.

3. The spot excludes a lot of people. For example, if you define yourself as a "luxury" consumer that enjoys a high priced cocktail or an exclusive seat in a nightclub this spot basically tells you that you are not welcome. I've written in the past about how strong marketing can talk about who the experience is for AND who the experience IS NOT for.

4. It's hard to make a meaningful promise. It's even harder to keep it. When you think about it, the promise the venue is making impacts everything. They now have to figure out how to deliver on their promise of "great fun at a great value" in a way that still serves the bottom line. They may discover that keeping that promise has some unintended consequences. They may find that keeping the promise creates internal conflict between executives, employees and other key stakeholders.

When I work with artists and arts organizations to improve their marketing getting them to understand the importance of making a promise AND that there is no such thing as a perfect, consequence free, promise is a real challenge.

For example an artist may choose to cultivate a young, "hip", audience and then become shocked when this audience quickly moves on to something else. Why be shocked? That's a natural risk that comes from the audience you chose. It's better to try and embrace that risk and figure out a way to deal with it.

My overall point here is that this is a good example of an organization that is in a crowded and competitive marketing trying to find a way to stand out. Will it work? Who knows, but it's a real effort. Hell, I'll probably even check the place out during my next trip, which is something I wasn't inclined to do before. Then we will see if it's a promise kept.

Spend a little time this week considering this example and see how it could apply to your work in the arts. What is the meaningful promise that you or your organization could make AND keep?

January 19, 2015

I do a good number of arts marketing workshops. After I've spent hours talking about the pillars of contemporary arts marketing i.e. things like storytelling, being authentic, etc. and given examples of how individuals and organizations of all types are leveraging the principles in unexpected and exciting ways someone raises their hand and says:

"That's all well and good, but how do I sell more stuff?"

On one level I get the question. Many of us, myself included, have real sales objectives that need to be hit during a given window of time.

But it's also a potentially harmful question because it puts the sale, the transaction, as the primary goal.

It's been my experience that when an individual or an organization makes the sale an overly high priority then you stop seeing the public as individuals that need to be cultivated. Instead they just become dollar signs.

When you see people that way the marketing can become very risk averse. It's hard to create any real innovation with your marketing when you are being ruled by "the numbers".

Plus when it's all about the sale you are going into a very crowded place. I work in theatre in a town with 200 other theatres. If we all just want a patron's money then, at least in the patron's eyes, we are all the same. And if we are all the same then it's natural for a patron to choose the more well known option . . .

Or the cheaper option . . .

Or the safer option . . .

You get the idea.

No one is entitled to a sale. It's something you earn. And you earn it by real marketing. Real marketing is about understanding your audience, building an authentic relationship and telling a compelling story. That's the foundation.

From that foundation comes your marketing tactics.

Then it's about your ability to execute those tactics.

If you do all of that correctly, the sales will take care of themselves.

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